Man Who Clinically Died Twice in One Year Shares What Death Really Feels Like

A 22-year-old student from Sweden took to Reddit to share his experiences with death. Sasha Eliasson claims he was pronounced clinically dead twice last year—first after a motorcycle crash, the second time several months later from an overdose on painkillers following a surgery.

He wrote:

“My short bio: Motorcycle accident. First “death”: immediately after the accident my body shut down from the pain and physical damages on my body. No pulse, no breathing and no consciousness

Second “death”: I was in agonizing pain after surgery so I received loads of pain killers. The pain, coupled with an immense amount of pain killers, caused my pulse to drop to around 10bpm and my respiratory system shut down.”

He said that he was only dead for around two minutes each time, and described what it was like on the other side as “just black emptiness.” He said it felt like a dreamless nap, or as if someone flicked an on/off switch. One minute he was conscious, and the next he found himself coming-to from the darkness.

In fact, he explained that the only reason he realized he had temporarily died was because his doctors were obligated to disclose that information.

He told Reddit:

“Both times I was just “not there.” It was all just black. I would describe it as when you take a nap. A short nap with no dream, you wake up and it feels like you’ve been sleeping a long time, when in reality it’s only been about 15 minutes.”

His account of death from the other side is the complete opposite to those who claim to have had out-of-body death experiences. Eliasson said he suspects that the out-of-body experience is caused by continued brain activity or dreaming.

Eliasson said that his deaths have given him new perspective on his life, and that it is now easier to cope with his own mortality. His new goal in life is to have fun and improve the lives of others.